An Unofficial Podcast about NBC's Hannibal, Hannibal Lecter, and the Works of Thomas Harris

red dragon

For the third season running, Bryan Fuller et al have managed to shock us silent with the revelations and twists that bring the season to the close. With this finale possibly being a bit more final than the other two, we discuss whether it’s possible it could’ve ended better, worse, or even differently. We discuss the omissions from the Red Dragon arc, and whether they were necessary to begin with, and dig deeper into the #Hannigram.

We’re joined by an out of town friend, fan of the podcast and the show, Raina, as we discuss the penultimate episode of our season (hopefully not series). Raul Esparza gives his best performance of the series, Richard Armitage creates an otherworldly persona through movement and vocalizations as he truly becomes the dragon. We speculate on the end of this season, discussing what will become of Will Graham. And we talk about Meatloaf. Just ‘cuz.

Formerly NBC’s Hannibal goes far off-book with this episode, taking us to a place where we smug book readers are just as uncertain about what is to come in the final two episodes of the season. The Red Dragon is thrown at Will’s family in a tense scene of stalking, Hannibal spends as much time as possible fucking with everybody around him, and Will is absolutely done with both Jack Crawford and former BFF Hannibal Lecter.

We’re halfway through the Red Dragon arc on Hannibal, and are being given both stunning beauty in the scenes between Dolarhyde and Reba, and stunning acts of CGI crappery (see the below CGI teeth). We go off on several tangents, Cooper calls some fans hipster douchebags and spends a good four minutes angrily ranting about the aforementioned terrible CGI. Find more information about The Great Red Dragon paintings of William Blake here.

The Red Dragon arc reaches the beauty that separates this work of fiction from so many in this genre with the introduction of Reba McClain (Rutina Wesley) and beginning to peel back the story of Francis Dolarhyde. Meanwhile Will and Hannibal begin a dance of working together in their own family, as Hannibal remembers his building of a family with surprise guest Kacey Rohl as Abigail Hobbes, and Will clings to the relaxed comfort of his family. Miko returns to the table with Cooper & Ophilia, and they’re all around the same table again!

We’re joined by Kate Kulzick from Sound on Sight‘s Hannibal podcast This is Our Design joins us to discuss the rise of The Great Red Dragon, as Miko completes her summer walkabout in a vacation home with poor wifi. Cooper is a bit jarred by the transition from pretentious seventies foreign film first half of the season to (relatively) straight forward procedural adaptation of the first book of the Hannibal Lecter series Red Dragon. We marvel at an almost silent introduction of our new character Francis Dolarhyde played by Richard Armitage.